Former Cameroon striker, Samuel Eto’o has expressed his displeasure that former Super Eagles midfielder, Austine Okocha did not receive as much accolades and described it as “the injustice of world football”.
Okocha enjoyed a successful career spanning almost two decades and won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994 with the Super Eagles.
He was also instrumental to Nigeria winning Africa’s first Olympic gold at Atlanta ’96.
But while Ronaldinho went on to win two FIFA World Player of the Year awards and a Ballon d’Or, Okocha never came close to claiming any of those global honours before calling time on his career in 2008.
However, the Cameroonian international insisted that Okocha was as talented as Brazilian great.
“It’s the injustice of world football,” Eto’o said, as per Onvoitout.
“What we saw Ronaldinho do a few years ago, Jay-Jay (Okocha) had done 10 or 15 years before and he never had the recognition of others. And that’s what happens when it comes to Africa.”
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COMMENTS
The clubs Okocha played for didn’t sell him. Not really about hatred. His story would have been different if he had played for one of the big clubs of his time, not Fernabache,Hull City Enitrant Frankfurt or Bolton. Even when he came to France, PSG wasn’t a big club in Europe then as they are now.
But he left a legacy of football in Frankfurt. That is why most Germans don’t like the way their team play at major championships. Okocha influenced their thinking of how football ought to be played. Not just about winning but also the creative side of the game.
I once had an office mate who grew up in the town who stopped watching the German team years after Okocha left Frankfurt. In his words, they just get the job done without artistry like the way Okocha plays. This happened between 2008 to 2010 when we were office mates. Long after Okocha left the city.
The city has not forgotten his creativity. Big ups Okocha but moving from PSG to Bolton was not a good career decision
You have it wrong @Papafem Okocha time was when players were Moving to clubs for money let us not forget the trajectory… things have changed and slowly started Changing with even Ighalo turning around and realising that he should have moved to Manchester United starght frm Watford instead of Middle east. Even Martins went to China for Money because Arsenal wanted him from Newcastle. There was a time when Nigerian players choose Money over a glittering Careerer it is only after the heights reached by Ronaldo and Messi and co that there eyes were cleared this only started recently in Okocha time and the likes of Martins and some other players they were choosing Money over lucrative moves in Europe. This started changing as recently as Ndidi, Omeruo and Co… long may it continue. But even at that what is the benefit. The injustice in team selection and ludicrous list is still appalling otherwise how can you explain a player carrying his team to Turkish tittle been over looked for one languishing on the bench in a lowely team in Turkey to the point the one languishing on bench has the undisputed rights to a whole National team Captains armbands I dont care what some deluded fools try and argue but, This is not right Atol!!!!!!!
We are saying the same thing, Bro. Okocha chose money over big clubs. With his precociius talent, there is no way Okocha would not have won African Player of the year as many times as possible if he had chosen one of Europe’s big boys. There is a thin line between him and Ronaldinho in terms of footballing talent. But the latter shot to global limelight due to his association with Barcelona. Same with Eto, Weah, Drogba, Yaya You’re and the likes.
I don’t think money was the motivation because Bolton Wanderers wasn’t big spenders.
Had the likes of Real Madrid or Barcelona showed interest he wouldn’t chose Bolton over elite clubs in their moulds.The truth is there was little or no interests coming from big clubs so he went for the one that wants him after all they play in the premiership.
Meanwhile,it’s strange big clubs don’t go for Nigerian players.Aubemayang has moved to Barcelona,Gueye of Senegal moved to psg which has another Senegalese Diallo.Senegal has a player in Bayern Munich, Liverpool this factor gave them an edge.
Rohr echoed this same issue as it affects the Nigerian team rather he was attacked by Nigerians but we all saw the advantage having just one big star in a team can do for example Salah of Egypt.That energy from one player rubs off others.
It’s a shame a huge football nation like Nigeria cannot boast of a player in the top teams of Europe what a shame.You look at the likes of Ndidi every year he kept getting linked to many top clubs and in the end no deal I’m sure non of those clubs are interested just media hypes.Iheanacho started brilliantly with Manchester city but left for a smaller club what a shame.
Our players have not done well enough neither have they got the consistencies required to play for an elite European team.
Our players still going through same thing, big clubs aren’t interested in signing Nigerian players. Something must be done to correct this negative vibes about our players
Okocha was the architect of his career trajectory……okocha made some funny and meaningless career moves that baffled the footballing world…..Okocha made a mark with Frankfurt as a Nigerian international and he could easily have moved to Bayern Barcelona Dortmund Juventus and the likes but boom he chose Fernabache for God knows why……Okocha made his mark at PSG that would have at least earned him a move to Liverpool Arsenal Man utd but boom he went to Bolton…… How do you make such moves and expect recognition?….. this same pattern is now prevalent in Nigerian players of this days and that is why the African footballer of the year award has eluded Nigerian players for such a long time…….Other African players are challenging themselves now by moving into bigger teams and making that prestigious African footballer of the year award more elusive to SE players…… Most Nigerian players prefer to stay in a mushroom league and gather national team caps than using the national team caps to move to a glamourous league to make a name for themselves…… Now the Nigerian agents too have keyed in by becoming lazy and too money conscious because getting a big club requires hard work and modesty from the part of the agents too……These are the reasons you hardly see any Nigerian player in the Semi final stage of the UCL for years now which is shameful for the so called giant of Africa.
Let us keep sentiments aside, OKOCHA made wrong career moves. At a stage he should be chasing after GLORY he went for MONEY! After mesmerizing Oliver Khan and earning his SE caps, he and Amokachie headed for TURKEY! It had nothing to do with that era. FINIDI GEORGE, NWANKWO KANU were playing in the finals of back to back UCL around that time. OLISEH was moving from JUVENTUS to DORTMUND, VICTOR IKPEBA was playing for MONACO, DORTMUND etc. TARIBO WEST for turning out for INTER MILAN and AC MILAN. CELESTINE BABAYARO was playing for CHELSEA. Even MUTIU ADEPOJU who was displayed by JAY JAY as SE no 10 was playing year in year out in LA LIGA!
JAY JAY had a kind of SECOND CHANCE when PSG splashed that AFRICAN record $17m on him from TURKEY. What did he do with the opportunity? Moved to BOLTON WANDERERS! The rest is history.
Today NWANKWO KANU is highly respected globally and recognized as NIGERIA’S and one of AFRICA’S most decorated footballers. Why? The right career moves. AJAX, INTER MILAN, ARSENAL. Always playing UCL football.
Yes Good Point but let us look at the likes of Martins, Ighalo even Musa and alot of them barring Mikel… it was rife then Emmanuel Emenike (was the worst) that is why I said some players not all..
in West and co time the players were on another level similar to what we have now but then in early 2000’s Martins time and it changed some what with the start of China and Saudi offering big money for players that is what we are talking about.
Wrong move. Wrong move. I nearly weot when he moved to fernabache and Bolton. He did that because of money. In turkey, it was tax free then. He caused it. Bad choices ,bad mangers. Well European discrimination is also relevant but his mates joined bigger clubs.Eto waited for his chance to play for real Madrid but later joined Barca
It’s not just about career moves. It’s also about END PRODUCT.
In my opinion, if you want a list of the most skillful, entertaining players to ever play the game, Okocha will be in the top five. And there is no sentiment in that statement.
If we’re looking at only skill, Okocha would have won the APOY and ballon d’or so many times, we would have lost count.
But football is not only about skill.
As outrageously gifted as he was, Okocha wasted his early years playing to the gallery, most of the time.
We all saw how he dazzled the Italians in that game at THE 1994 world cup. It got to a point, the Italians just allowed him to have his way with the ball. They stopped challenging him, because they knew they couldn’t get the ball from him. But they also knew he had no end product, so he couldn’t really hurt them!
The same thing happened in 1998. Against Denmark, Okocha shone like a million stars. But the Danes were wise to him. They did enough to keep him dribbling in circles, as far as it was far away from their goal.
Okocha dribbled, and dribbled and dribbled, and at the end of the game, ended up empty-handed.
NO END PRODUCT.
It was from year 2000 that Okocha started incorporating end product into his game, talking about Nigeria matches especially. At the 2000 Afcon, we saw an end-product oriented Okocha, still dribbling outrageously, BUT WITH A PURPOSE. Scoring goals, and making assists. We all remember his brace against Tunisia, and the wonder goal he scored against Cameroon in the final.
Between 2000 and 2005, Okocha was the center around which Nigeria’s attacking machine revolved.
It was also the same period that he held the premier league spell bound, almost single handedly keeping Bolton Wanderers in the premier league, helping them to avoid relegation with scintillating performances and some memorable goals.
If he had played his whole career the way he played between 2000 to 2005, he would have won the APOY numerous times, and would probably have won the ballon d’or, at least once.
Okocha won 2 trophies with Nigeria. The 1994 Afcon, and the 1996 Olympic soccer gold. He was unfortunate. He likely would have won the 1996 and 1998 Afcons as well, if not for the Nigerian government’s decision to boycott the 1996 edition, and CAF then banning Nigeria from the 1998 edition as punishment.
Nigeria would LIKELY have won both editions, as the Super Eagles were by far the strongest team in the continent at that time. Of course, it’s not certain. But it was indeed likely.
So yes, Okocha was a great footballer.
But he did not get the kind of recognition that Ronaldinho, Messi and others are getting due to:
Not enough goals and assists.
Not enough club continental (European) games.
Not enough club trophies, if any.
NOT ENOUGH END PRODUCT.
If he had played his whole career the way he played between 2000 to 2005 for club and country, he would have received much more recognition.
Rightly put Pompei.
Okocha always had it in him…only that he wasn’t serious in his early days. He even scored from a direct free-kick on his national team debut in 1993…..how he went almost a decade without developing himself to score more freekicks on a regular basis leaves a lot to be imagined, save to say Nigeria never scored from a direct freekick till 2002 when Karibe Ojigwe (or was it James Obiora) scored one vs Kenya in Lagos. I’ve seen players develop themselves from zero to becoming freekick specialists…..a David Alaba and Gana Gueye speedily comes to mind. Okocha on the other hand had it in him from the get go, but failed to make hay when the sun was still high up in the sky.
And as you rightly said, “end product”. Jay jay lacked end product in his early days. He used to be so annoyingly wasteful and hugged the ball far too long. Westerhoff confessed he never fancied starting J.J most of the times because he held on to the ball too long most of the times that a promising attacking move would end up becoming an offside call. He barely made 5 direct goal contributions (goals and assists) in his first 6 years as a super eagles player. I stated as a matter of fact that Iwobi has been a more efficient no 10 than Okocha was in his first 5 years in the SE and one loud mouthed lunatic started having epileptic seizure as if there are no facts and figures to back it up.
Put J.J’s career goal contributions for both club and national team beside Ronaldinho’s, put the number times J.J has been decisive for both club and country against Ronaldinho’s, put the number of magical moments leading to goals J.J has produced against Ronaldinho’s, and you will ask where is the so-called injustice. Thank God Ronaldinho is also black, at least the race card wouldnt work in this case.
His career moves didnt do him any favours. His “I didnt know much about Bolton Wanderers when I joined them, I only got to know they were a relegation battling team after I arrived” statement sums up how he handled his career moves back then.
And as per chasing money ahead of big club moves, Nobody should blame these players sometimes. In a country where nobody cares about you after retirement…..even your bonuses while playing are not paid, promises made by governments are not fulfilled, nobody wants to end up like a Kingsley Obikwu in a motor park, like an Ikenna Eneh begging for financial assistance in the media, or like a Christian Chukwu who needed a ‘good samaritan’ Otedola to stay alive.
and your God Musa Had End Product abi @Dr Drey Sharap Mr Man nonsense!!! fool!!
Useless imbecile…..LMAOoooo…filthy lying pig, you have rushed again here after I slapped your big lying mouth with hard facts…..LMAOOoo???
My god Musa has more goals and assists than Jayjay in the SE. Go and commit suicide if it is too painful for you to accept…….LMAOoooo
Like I’ve said before, you will continue to use your teeth to mow entire plantations until the end of 2022 when Ahmed Musa retires…..LMAOOoooo
Useless hate-filled bigot
@UGO IWUNZE, There is no era that we didnt have players turn out for UCL teams. What am saying is that throughout those eras we kept having players who chose money when opportunities for FOOTBALL presented themselves. Obafemi MARTINS started very early and for years played European football whether for INTER MILAN or WOLFSBURG. He turned out for NEWCASTLE during their decline but you will agree with me that NEWCASTLE is way bigger than FERNABAHCE or BOLTON!
Dont forget we had the likes of OBINNA NSOFOR, OGBUKE, GBENGA OKUNNOWO, AMUNIKE, MIKEL OBI, VICTOR MOSES, KARIBE OJIGWE, TAIYE TAIWO etc who played for clubs like BARCELONA,BAYER LEVERKUSEN, AC MILAN, INTER MILAN, SCHALKE 04, CHELSEA, LIVERPOOL etc and subsequently featured in European club competitions.
Ighalo has always been an average player. You cant compare him with illustrious names of NIGERIA players. Forget that he was AFCON top scorer. Even Okocha was top scorer in 2004! IGHALO played for small teams like WATFORD, GRANADA, UDINESE and aside one season at WATFORD where he managed double digits, he never pulled trees anywhere. Little wonder he ran to CHINA when he should be at his peak. Man Utd was an emergency stop gap. If he was highly rated, he wont be allowed to go. We saw how MAN UTD held on to older IBRA and CAVANI long after their initial contracts!
No good player goes to CHINA from WATFORD unless for monetary reasons!
The only NIGERIA players who swapped big clubs for CHINA or SAUDI at their peak are Mediocre players! Martins was quality and only went to CHINA after playing for INTER, NEWCASTLE, WOLFSBURG etc all quality clubsides!
I also completely agree with the positions of POMPEI and DR. DREY about END PRODUCTS!
By the time OKOCHA added productivity to his game, he was already at the twilight of his career.
It is your father that is a bastard. Worthless pig.
Paste the link in your browser and see the breakdown and raw figures for yourself
transfermarkt.co.za/ahmed-musa/nationalmannschaft/spieler/168337/verein_id/3444
18 goals + 14 assists in 105 games = 1 goal contribution ever 3 games. You Rehab escapee Imbecile, do the mathematics of Okocha’s goal contributions in the SE and lets see who had better end-product.
Your nepotistic and bigoted upbringing is your greatest problem in life. You hatred for anything not from your stock is legendary. Left to you the name Ahmed Musa should be erased from Nigeria and FIFA’s history books because he is a Muslim northerner…..LMAOOooo….unfortunately even your forefathers in whatever section of hell they are now can never succeed in doing so.
Filthy liar….LMAOooo. Go and respond to your lies that Harry Kane was dropped from the national team on the appropriate thread, not here…..LMAOoooo. Show us the matches where Harry Kane was dropped from the National team apart from when he was injured, mad born-by-mistake-dog is still convulsing till now.
When filthy lying nicompoops have been slapped by facts, they will start staggering all over the place looking for what to bite…..LMAOooooo
Once again My god Musa has more goals and assists than Jayjay in the SE AND THATS AN UNDISPUTABLE FACT….! Go and commit suicide if it is too painful for you to accept…..LMAOoooo
Go and kill yourself because Ahmed Musa is the captain of the SE…..LMAoooo. Your high BP on top Musa matter never start.
Worthless Pig.
Okocha played 62 games and scored 30 goals way back in 96 in turkey and you guys are talking about end product coming later in his career. I believe most people here started folloing football only few years ago
And those goals came as an attacking midfielder lmaoo….Sometimes it’s just good to watch people display their nonsense here….end product or no end product man is still a legend and his position has never been filled since his retirement
Truth be told Okocha had massive end product in club football between 1996 and 2000. Many of them came as free kicks. So, the talk of Okocha not having end product (in club football) in that period is load of old bullocks. Okocha amassed 30 goals in 62 appearances for Fenerbahce in the 90s, many of them coming from direct free kicks. Primarily for a midfielder, some people choose to measure “end product” by the number of completed passes, assists and ability to help the team retain possession. If you choose to measure Okocha’s output by these metrics between 1994 to 1999, you will see he had plentiful end product. See all of his 30 goals and free kicks for a big European club like Fenerbahce in the 90s and see for yourself if that was a midfielder without end product.
https://youtu.be/KXzQYMQoeVs
If Okocha was the best thing since sliced bread, as some ignoramuses here imply, WHY DID THE BIG CLUBS NOT COME FOR HIM?
Yes, he scored so many goals in Turkey in the 1990s. So why did big clubs in Europe not make a move for him? Germany that he came from, why did the likes of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and others not inquire about his services? How about other big clubs in Europe? Not even one came for him during that time. NOT EVEN ONE! And you are here talking rubbish?
He was in England for how many years, producing a one-man show for Bolton Wanderers. Why did the likes of Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Everton, Aston Villa, and others not look his way? Not even once? I remember a game between Bolton Wanderers and Man United. Okocha toyed with the likes of Roy Keane, David Beckham, and Paul Scholes in the midfield, with outrageous tricks and flicks all thru the match. After the game, he went back to Bolton. No interest from anywhere. Why?
Fergusson went out of his way to try and sign Mikel, who is nowhere near as talented as Okocha. Fergusson went to war with Chelsea for Mikel. Why did he not try to get Okocha? Some will argue that it was because Okocha was getting up in years. Rubbish! Why did Man United sign CR7 that is pushing 40? Why did PSG jump on an ageing Messi? Why did AC Milan sign Ibra at 40 yrs of age?
Make una dey there dey yarn nonsense!
Okocha was good, no doubt about that. But football is a business. Just like a company goes for proven employees/managers that can make things happen for the company, clubs go for players that are more likely to win them games, players with that cutting edge that can decide a game in an instant. As good and pleasing to the eye as Okocha was, he just did not show enough to be considered as a game changer.
Big clubs did not believe that Okocha can win help them win big games.
Don’t ask me why. Ask the big clubs that stayed away, despite all his stepovers, elasticos and rabonas!!!
Okocha is a role model to young ones who want to follow his path. However, these young ones need to remember to focus on end product. End product is key!
Big clubs were not willing to invest in Okocha’s ability to help them win games.
Don’t ask me why. Ask them!
Well said @ Pompei. I love the Mikel Obi angle you brought into this as proof that it isn’t a racial issue as some may insinuate. It was just about results afterall.
Greetings, OmoEsan.
Football is a winner kind of business, if you choose to entertain at the risk of scoring and necessary assistance to team mates then Okocha’s case will repeat itself over and over again!
Such an unambitious fellow at Club football as he chooses notice me soccer Advertisement. Effective Branding in business is a product of a positive slope gradient and not a beautiful gradient!
Your point baffles me.
Okocha was very business like in his career hence he played for some of the big, yes, big clubs in his career. It can be argued the only aspiring, ambitious and forward thinking clubs chased after the signature of Okocha during his playing days.
Fenerbahce. If any Nigerian player must play in Turkey, then it makes sense to play in one of their world renowned clubs which are Fenerbahce, Besiktas or Galastasaray. These 3 are big European club, known the world over who regularly participate in Uefa competitions. They are known for signing high profile players. As a country, Turkey has won the bronze at FIFA World Cup. So having Fenerbahce in player’s CV is most respectable.
In Fenerbahce, Okocha’s END PRODUCT helped the club to regularly finish in top 3, played the highest level of Uefa Cup competition in the Champions League as well as winning 2 high profile domestic trophies. Undoubtedly a hugely profitable time in Turkey.
Paris St Germain. Again, even as at 1998,PSG was one of the top clubs in France and a most respected, hugely popular global franchise. Anyone who tells you to the contrary is being disingenuous. Moving from Frankfurt to Fenerbahce is promotion. Moving from Fenerbahce to PSG is a modest improvement. It is well documented that Okocha was colleagues with some truly aspiring world class players in PSG. Okocha’s OUTPUT helped PSG IN THE LATE 90s, win one domestic cup and one European cup as well as regularly maintaining their status as one of the biggest clubs in France.
So, let’s check Okocha’s medals cabinet between 1990 2001.
3 MEDALS IN GERMANY
2 MEDALS IN TURKEY
2 MEDALS IN FRANCE
7, 7 MEDALS IN ALL FOR RESPECTABLE CLUBS OWING TO HIS END PRODUCT. Yet some will want you to think to the contrary. Must every player play for Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Arsenal or Bayern Munich?
The clubs Okocha played for are big clubs in their own right plus his overall contributions and end product won trophies for these clubs.
He may not have won the controversial Africa Footballer of the Year award but he won the next best thing which is the prestigious BBC footballer of the year award, twice. He won the Nigerian footballer of the year award a record 7 times plus he was actually top 3 in the dubious Africa Footballer of the year award a respectable 3 times.
Now moving from the French league to the English Premer League is an upward trajectory in my books. For a player to feature in the German, French and English leagues is no mean feat and testament to Okocha’s OUTPUT.
Bolton had great ambitions hence they set out to attract top quality players during Okocha’s time. It is a statement of historical fact that Okocha’s colleagues in Bolton were Uefa champions league winners, World Cup winners and trailblazers in African football (Diof and Co). So he was surrounded by quality players and they rubbed shoulders with the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United constantly. Mourinho and Arsene Wenger HATED playing Allardyce’s men. Bolton regularly finished top 8 bar one season when Okocha was there. He played in European competition and had a fairytale journey in the prestigious FA league Cup before coming a respectable second.
Put Bolton’s financial troubles to one side, when Okocha was playing at the club, it was a high profile, hugely respected and much feared English Premier League club. Anyone who tells you something to the contrary is lying.
So there you have it. Okocha played for big clubs, with world class colleagues in top leagues, producing goals, providing assists, winning individual, domestic and continental honours, yet some want to paint a portrait of a player who played to the gallery and never attracted interests from top clubs!!!!!! I think it is fans who allowed Okocha’s mesmerising dribbles to cloud their own judgements in distorting historical fact. lolzzzz. That is not Okocha’s fault. If playing with world cup winning colleagues in the German, French and English leagues is not playing high level football, whatever is????? If coming as a top 3 player in the contentious Africa Footballer of the year is not evidence enough of end product, what ever is?
Load of old bullocks!!!!!
@Igbekun Abo you for no even to respond to these people wey get mouth to talk about the all time Greatest Nigerian Football Legend. How can you even argue wit small pikin dem wey just start to dey watch ball as of yesterday. A whole Okocha is who they are debating with about end product a free kick specialist never before seen before in Africa.
i Will sing it in english even though it sounds better in Igbo.
Song: “Okocha you are Killing Okocha, Okocha you are killing me Okocha I love you Pass Maradona Okcoha”.. and it goes on!!
and all these years later These small boys will come and compare Musa to Okocha ARUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!
I am sure non was even of walking age to remember when Okocha Scattered Sululere stadium a Whole man that a song was made for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me64mam97cU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzTTxW0mRX8
Michael Obest, may you walk and never stumble.
Oil dey ya head.
This man brough tears to people eyes in his playing days and these pigs will come and degrade a player like that @Dr Drey you are the biggest piece of shit on this platfrom yes I said it you are a kid who doest Know ball. Mind you how old are you Boy??? because you clearly were not of Cognisant age to remember when Jay Jay played ball especially the AFCON 2000
I throwaway salute Sir Ugo. Much respect to my Oga at the top. May you walk and never stumble @Ugo.
So @ Ugo, what have we dispelled so far?
Okocha didn’t play in big club. DISPELLED. Fenerbahce is to Turkey what Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are to England, Spain and Germany. Additionally, Paris St Germain, Frankfurt and Bolton were big clubs in their own rights in the context of the period that Okocha played.
Okocha didn’t have end product in the 90s. FALSE.
For a midfielder, Okocha scored goals aplenty for Fenerbahce. He also scored in Frankfurt and PSG with many pre assists. His goal at Frankfurt against world class goalkeeper Oliver Kahn is still revered to this day.
Okocha didn’t start scoring freekicks until after the year 2000. WRONG AGAIN.
Go and erase from the history books all the freekicks that Okocha scored for Fenerbahce na!
Okocha didn’t win Africa Footballer of The Year award. RUBBISH.
No Nigerian player has won that rubbish award for over 15 years now. It is an award not kind to Nigerian players. Furthermore, Okocha came as a top 3 African Footballer of the Year 3 times despite their own bias.
Okocha didn’t win trophies in his playing days. NONSENSE.
Okocha won on average 2 trophies each for Frankfurt, Fenerbahce and PSG. He won individual accolades at Bolton.
Okocha didn’t play with high profile players. RUBBISH.
There were world class players in every club that Okocha played in.
Say something else please. Don’t allow Okocha’s dribbles mess up you recollection of historical facts.
Lolzzzz, Lolzzzz. ZA za za za za za
@Igbekun Abo LOLS bro you have dispelled all those lazy Rubbish stories some people are yabbing here. My hand is raised and I will take a shot of Better cognac in your honour tonight Salute Bro!!!!!
During Okocha’s time, Big European clubs don’t trust African players with #10 or creativity role. Talent doesn’t matter to them, they just reserve creativity for their players and saddle Africans with any other role. If Karil Pobosky was good enough for Manchester United, Okocha was 100× better.
The only African that played the creative role in Europe was Abedi Pele. And as at the time Abedi Ayew played for Olympic Marsielle, they weren’t a big European club. That explained why Abedi never played for any big club in Spain, Italy, Germany or England.
Okocha was as mercurial and talented as Ronaldinho, he even invented some skills. Most of Ronaldinho’s skills were copied from Gaucho (the Brazilian who invented snake-bite or elastico). Okocha was unique.
However, Ronaldinho was both business-like and an entertainer. Okocha did entertainment more than purpose.
By the way, if Eto is really trying to be honest, he should’ve admitted that Okocha should’ve won CAF player of the year in 2004 lol
funny fact Every club Okocha played for has him listed as a Club Legend and mad a Song for him in his Honour: Paris st German Fenerbache, Entricht Frankfurt and Bolton Wanderers to name but a few. even the saying Jay Jay so good they named him twice came from Bolton Fans. who still to this day will admit they couldn’t believe they got a player Like Okocha.. to all those talking nonesense click the link and see what the Bolton Fans thought of Okocha the Legend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9CwGbLfb5k
Ahmed Musa in his wildest dreams can only dream of being as good as this man. Okocha didn’t have end product who actually started that nonsesne here. LOL!!!
@John-I… I like the fact you pointed the forum to Abedi Pele case. Infact Abedi Pele only got opportunity to showcase his talent and how graceful and extremely gifted he is because France tolerated Black Players because of their assimilation policy from colonial times. Same Joseph Antoine Bell and Thomas Nkono both goalkeepers were accepted to show their talent largely through the French league… People have forgotten how soon and until recently l… no serious clubs signed black African players especially those born on the continent… Up till late 90s too European clubs only receive those special roles and world platforms for their own natives… Whiteman till date will smile in your face but he wants you to disappear. Which serious clubs did the great Cameroonian players of the 80s and early 90s played for in Europe… It was France even giving opportunities mostly to those players from the their African colonies… Yekini as deadly as he is only were considered by weak teams in Europe even though he was torturing the likes of Porto, Benfica and Real Madrid later in Spain.
Hahahahaha….LMAOOoo…someone should please quickly go to the history books and FIFA records and add 50 goals and 100 assists to Okocha’s Super Eagles records so that his goals contributions and end products records can surpass Ahmed Musa’s 18 goals + 14 assists (average of 1 goal contribution every 3 games) for Nigeria….LMAOOoo
When you have finished doing that, also please look for a very sharp cutlass and severe Ahmed Musa’s left arm and remove the SE captain’s armband from it….LMAOoooo….infact, better still, severe Musa’s head from its neck to that the position of SE captain can become vacant before our next match…..LMAOoooo.
Ehtnic and religious bigotry go kill many people before the end of Qatar 2022 o……LMAoooo
Hahahaha, after severing Musa’s left arm, he should go and use it to prepare better nkwobi.
Hahahahahahaha!
Okocha na national legend and hero. No doubt. No need going thru his achievements.
Ahmed Musa is not as great as Okocha, but he is a hero nonetheless.
A player who has played for our national teams at every level: U17, U20, U23 and senior level.
4 world cup goals no be moimoi. It is not by mistake he was selected to be Super Eagles captain.
The discussion on this thread is why Okocha did not receive the same recognition great players usually receive. If you have a problem with it, communicate your grievances with CAF and UEFA. You can even go to Nyon, Switzerland, and lie down naked outside the UEFA gate in protest that he never won any awards. Even sef, you can embark on hunger strike too.
Hahahahahaha!
It is no secret unless you people know better than Edourd Mendy who plays ball speaks of his experiences and, recently came out to say that He did not get included for Ballon d ‘or because he is black then we should submit to Yours and you Mentor’s @Dr Drey opinions kids who just started watching ball yesterday. lol I personally feel privileged for having watched Okocha in his active days, Something you and your Fraud Ambassador Drey can never lay claim even if you do it will be a lie. Because No One I repeat true Nigerian who ever watched Okocha and calls themselves a true SE fan would ever start such a debate Okocha did not have End Product only kids that live on stats produced by Fifa can talk such Drivel bull shit.
Again Dr Fraud stop increasing mumu Musa states he scored 16 goals *NOT* 18 in 105 National team appearances 25 of which he did not Merit the call up if you don’t like that statement maybe you can check yourself back into the mental nutcase home of which you crawled Small boy!!!!. who lives on stats. Togolese non entity.
slit wrist for a piece of shit like you lol hahahaha!! that is the funniest shit I have heard today lol!!
Go and find somewhere to sit down, bloody liar like you!
You can lie ehn! You remind me of a classmate of mine who came to school one day and told everybody that armed robbers came to their house the previous noght and took a lot of things. He said the one that really pained him was that they stole their swimming pool. If they had just left their swimming pool for them, he would have been fine. Hehehehehe!
You lie pass that my class mate. Take it easy with the lies, make lie no purge you!
YOUR MUMU NEVER TOO MUCH? How long will your mumu continue?
If you can find Musa, go and kill him and use him to prepare pepper soup.
Every time coming here and barking like a rabid dog: MUSA, MUSA, IGHALO, IGHALO!
ARA NKITA!
EWU!
Biko Carry eraser and go and clean Ahmed Musa’s records from the record books…..LMAOOooo
1. Did Ahmed Musa score in the 3-0 win over Kenya in 2011 – YES
2. Did Ahmed Musa score in the 2-0 win over Rwanda in 2012 – YES
3. Did Ahmed Musa score in the 6-1 win over Liberia in 2012 – YES
4. Did Ahmed Musa score in the 4-1 win over Mali in 2013 – YES
5. Did Ahmed Musa score in the 1-0 win over Kenya in 2013 – YES
6. Did Ahmed Musa score twice in the 2-3 loss to Argentina in 2014 – YES
7. Did Ahmed Musa score twice in the 3-1 over sudan in 2014 – YES
8. Did Ahmed Musa score in the 1-1 draw away to SA in 2015 – YES
9. Did Ahmed Musa score in the 2-0 win over Niger in 2015 – YES
10. Did Ahmed Musa score twice in the 3-0 win over Togo in 2017 – YES
11. Did Ahmed Musa score twice in the 2-0 win of Iceland in 2018 – YES
12. Did Ahmed Musa score in the 3-0 win over Seychelles in 2018 – YES
13. Did Ahmed Musa score in the 3-2 win over Libya in 2018 – YES
14. Did Ahmed Musa score in the 2-0 win over Liberia in 2021 – YES
I know you have problems with counting, my dog does a bit well with counting, it is available to assist you if you are still finding it difficult to count due to that mental derangement that forced your family to abandon you in the drug rehab where you escaped from.
Some filthy liars are always desperate to chalk of players’ records to satisfy their fantasies…..LMAOOoooo.
Look for eraser and clean it off the record books ehn….LMAOooo
And just as pompei said, after your are done severing Musa’s left arm, go and use it to prepare better peppersoup…..LMAOoooo
When you are done and you still find out Ahmed Musa is still the captain of the SE….look for a very thick rope and hang yourself for good…..LMAOOoooo
Those who saw Okocha from his Mauritius 93 days till his last game for Nigeria against Senegal at the 2006 AFCON know enough about Okocha’s well documented lack of end product in his early national team days than to be arguing with a teething toddler like you.
Shameless bigot.
Pompei… Get your facts right baba. Musa never appeared on anything called U-17 and U-23 for Nigeria please. I will excsuse that slip as minor memory glitch for you. Lol… How far?
Jimbo, indeed Musa did not play U-17 for Nigeria. My bad.
But he did play in the U20, U23 and of course senior categories.
Please go ahead and utilize Google copiously for verification purposes.
Let me add that he could have played for the U-17.
Fact is he made his senior debut for Nigeria at age 17 in a 2012 Afcon qualifier against Madagascar.
If you take your wares to the market, you can’t force people to buy it at the price you want, unless you be monopoly.
Okocha’s career is where the market of that time placed him. If he was valued higher by clubs, it would have been evident in his career trajectory.
Okocha left Eintracht Frankfurt in 1996. His exploits are still being discussed till today with the club, especially his goal against Oliver Kahn. Add to that his Olympic gold-winning performance. After all that, why did clubs like AC Milan, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia, Juventus, Roma, Porto, etc not come calling?
The fact remains that the big clubs did not trust Okocha’s ability to help them win trophies.
PSG was a big club back then. RUBBISH.
A big club by definition is a contender in their home league and in Europe, Champion’s league or Europa cup. PSG was none of those.
As I mentioned earlier, if we’re talking about skill alone, Okocha would have won the APOY numerous times. He would also have won the world player of the year a few times, if not more.
THE POST LISTING ALL THE ARGUMENTS SUPPOSEDLY DISPELLED IS A BIG STINKING LOAD OF HIPPOPOTAMUS MANURE.
The poster has made up this arguments himself, and is proceeding to dispel his own arguments. Yaba left things.
The position taken regarding why Okocha did not get the recognition the likes of Ronaldinho are getting has been laid out on this thread. All it takes is the ability to read at a very basic level, and you will see that the facts laid out are irrefutable. Unless you want to rewrite history.
Hehehehe…my biggest take home is all these is that Omonia Nicosia is to Cyprus what Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are to Spain and Germany. Therefore, Omonia Nicosia is a big club…..LMAOOoo.
If I ever hear anyone say Francis Uzoho and Shehu Abdullahi are not playing for big clubs again, thunder go wear jeans that day…?
I rest my case.
Yes, if Omonia Nicosia is located in a country that has won bronze in Fifa World Cup, regularly assembly decent to qualify international footballers, plays regularly in the main Uefa Cup Competitions, pays competitive wages, is a world renowned club and rubs shoulders with top European club, then it is a no brainer.
Fenerbahce is a reputable European club that has attracted some of the best players in world football. Hoping to belittle Okocha’s accomplishments by tarnishing tee quality of clubs he played is an exercise in bad taste.
For the avoidance of doubt, the following fallacies have been dispelled.
Okocha did not attract in interest from top clubs.
Okocha had end product in the 90s.
Okocha didn’t develop his free kick skills in the 90s
Like was mentioned before, All a load of old bullocks.
I also rest my case. Lolzzzz Za.
Hahahahahaha! Great comic relief!
Lolzzzz, lolzzzz. Guess who the last man standing is. Lolzzzz. Real Madrid, Manchester United and Arsenal are not the only reputable clubs in the European game. Simple principles aren’t always so simple to grasp.
Lolzzzz, lolzzzz. Guess who’s laughing now.
Laughing with laughing gas. That one na laugh?
Standing? Don’t forget your walking stick. You need it, since you’ve chosen to stand on a baseless argument.
Hahahahaha!
Hahahaha…mr man will you stop that. His argument is not baseless. Fenerbache is a big club…LMAOOoo
Best Record in the UCL from 1960 – 1995: 2nd qualifying round elimination
Best Record in the UCL from 1995 – 2007: Group stages (3rd in the group in 97 and 2004)
Best Record in the UCL from 2008 – 2019: Qualifying round elimination
Best Record in the UEL from 1971 – 2002: 2nd qualifying round elimination
Best Record in the UEL from 2004 – 2011: Round of 32 (05,06, 2010)
Best Record in the UEL from 2012 – 2021: Semifinals (2012)
Current ranking in Europe – 74th (1 place above Stade Rennes in 75th and 1 below AEK Athens in 73rd)…..LMAOOooo.
I dont want to hear from anybody that Fernerbache is not a big club.
Go and sit down and let those who want to remain standing keep standing
Case Closed
Hahahahaha, Dr. Drey, I don laugh taya today.
Fernabache is a very very big club ooo.
Hahahahahaha!
This is the kind of big club that earns you a dalon dor award….LMAOoooo.
When you win trophies like Saarland Cup, Oberliga Sudwest cup, Prime ministers cup etc, you definitely have to be in balon dor shortlist if the selectors are not racists…..LMAOooooo
Across the prestigious English Premier League, there are clubs that haven’t even had a sniff of the European experience of Fenerbahce. Across Europe, there are 100s of clubs that do not even come anywhere near the appearances that Fenerbahce has clocked in Europe.
In Turkey, Fenerbahce is a top 3 club, in the world, Fenerbahce is reputable, global and well renowned brand. Contradict that in your bathroom.
Across European leagues where there are thousands of clubs, Fenerbahce will easily fall within the top 100. If that makes it a backwater club, what is the fate of clubs occupying 400 or 500 positions.
If you come 80 out of 2000 people, you can pat yourself in the back.
So once again, Fenerbahce are a top European outfit, fair and square.
Hahahaha. Laughing gas or no laughing gas, I am still laughing. If a baseless argument is one backed up by irrefutable historical fact, then I live, breathe, bath in baseless arguments.
Okocha’s legacy will not be tarnished by those carried away by his dribbling skills so much so that their interpretation of historical facts it distorted.
Okocha didn’t attract interest from big clubs. RUBBISH
Okocha didn’t hone his freekick skills in the 90s. RUBBISH
Okocha didn’t have END PRODUCT in the 90s. RUBBISH.
RUBBISH, RUBBISH, RUBBISH.
In a continent that literally has thousands of clubs, to be among the top 100, as Fenerbahce is, and to have experience playing in the group stages of continental competitions, makes a team a reputable, big club in that context.
If you cannot deal with historical contextual fact, that, is your problem.
I remain, Igbekun Abo. Haahaahaaahah
THE LAST MAN STANDING. HAHAHAHAA
Lolzzzz, lolzzzz.
Hehehehe, continue to laugh ooo. Laughter is good for your health.
And keep standing while you’re at it. Don’t be a naughty boy and stop standing ooo.
If you venture to sit down peren!
Don’t even try it! Keep standing on your baseless, unfounded, ludicrous arguments!
Yet, you fail to point out which part of it is unfounded baseless and ludicrous…….heheheheh. I haven’t had this much fun on this platform in such a long time.
There is one truth in what you said, laughter is indeed good for the health. Thanks for supplying it amigo. Lolzzzz hahahaajha
Siddon there and be waiting for me to point out obvious facts to you.
Ah, sorry, you’ve chosen to stand. So keep standing. You can stand on one leg for all I care.
And be hopping from point A to point B like a rabbit.
And don’t stop laughing. Don’t ever, ever stop laughing!
Continue to laugh, amigo. Keep laughing!
As you have taken the position of not pointing out what you consider unfounded, baseless and ludicrous in historically backed up fact, I see no point in persisting in having this conversation with you.
Do have a pleasant day.
Great talking with you, amigo.
Don’t forget to keep standing and laughing!
Have yourself a lovely day!
Naughty boy, go and stand somewhere and continue to laugh ooo!
Please don’t ever, ever stop laughing! If you ever stop laughing, you become a BIG FOOL.
I don’t want that for you. So please, keep on laughing ad infinitum!
Thank you very much for your kind comments and for providing me with much comic relief. This brings to end my correspondence with you on this matter. All the best, brother.
Hahahahaha….e don pepper am for bodi…..LMAOOooo. Agony of a defeated loud mouth braggart….LMAOoooo
Dont vex ehn….we hereby join you in declaring Fenerbache a big club…..LMAOooo.
Dont cry anymore ehn.
Ngwa your mummy is calling you to come and collect chin chin. Dont cry again ehn. Ndoh o..!
At least I have a doctoral degree and my facts-based contributions to flex on this forum……LMAOOoo…pls show us what you have to flex apart from your your low IQ, your low self esteem characterized by naming yourself after feaces and your baseless arguements….LMAOoooo.
Between you and I who sounds like a failure….LMAOoo..? Which successful human being names himself “igbe” (shit, poo poo, dung, excrement). You should be the one to take a look at the mirror and ask yourself who did your parents offend…..LMAOooo
Tell your Big Club Fernabache to go and campaign in the TOP 5 leagues and lets see if they will even finish mid table every season talk more of playing in the champions league qualifiers or the group stages……LMAOOoooo.
Woah!!! Horsey!!! Steady horsey!! Steady!!!! Steady, horsey.
Someone has come out swinging, HOW PREDICTABLE.
Gather around every body, gather around. Let us announce the winner of this argument. The prize of a cuddly teddy goes to the one, the only Dr, luck up your daughters Drey. Yeehhhhhh!! Whistle whistle whistle..clap clap clap…. You win Doctor Drey. So, steady your horse.. lolzzzz.
Fenerbahce are not a big club, Okocha didn’t develop his freekick skills in the 90s and big clubs never came for Okocha’s signature.
Enjoy your prize Doctor Drey. You are the CHAMPION. Yeaaaaaaaaaaàaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh